ROCHESTER, NY -- I'm not into reality show contests such as American Idol, Survivor, Dancing with the Stars or Oprah's Big Give.

But last fall, two of my friends coerced me into joining them at the Rochester stop of the So You Think You Can Dance road tour.

After getting over feeling a bit out of place amid the young 'tweens and teens that surrounded me, I actually enjoyed watching the performances of the dancers and gained an appreciation for their hard work.

Rochester's own version of a reality show contest, Dancing with Rochester's Stars — Teachers Edition II, sponsored by WHAM-TV, Channel 13, began last week. Forty teachers in the area auditioned in March for a chance to ballroom dance with partners who are instructors at Arthur Murray Studios. Of the eight finalists, four have ties to westside school districts.

- Shana Conheady is a music teacher at Northwood Elementary School in Hilton. Her kindergarten-through-second-grade students were so excited to learn their teacher was competing; some even thought she was on the national Dancing with the Stars program.

- Barbara Crowley is a counselor at Greece Athena Middle School. She decided to audition to motivate her students in grades six through eight to take risks and try things that they think they can't do. Her participation, she says, is a great motivator for them.

- Kim Zingaro is a special education teacher at Monroe County Board of Cooperative Educational Services District 2, working at Canal View Elementary School in Spencerport. She has always wanted to learn to ballroom dance. After recently losing 115 pounds, Kim feels she is ready to strut her stuff.

- Ron Herman teaches second grade at Chestnut Ridge Elementary School in the Churchville-Chili district. He's been involved in local community theater, performing in musicals and dabbling at dancing, but never anything as structured and formalized as this competition.

Performances air on Tuesday mornings between 5:30 and 6:45 a.m.

One couple is voted off each week. Voting takes place online at www.13wham.com starting at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning and ending at noon on Thursday of each week. On Fridays, WHAM will visit the school of the teacher who received the least number of votes to announce his or her elimination. There's still time to vote this week for the teacher of your choice. If you missed Tuesday's performances, you can also view them on the station's Web site.

Meet the Dancers!

Shana Conheady with Grant Kohler Northwood Elementary, Hilton Music, Grades K-2	Andy Creahan with Kaia Moore Brooks Hill Elementary, Fairport 1st Grade
Barbara Crowley with David Jones Greece Athena Middle School Counselor, Grades 6-8	Ron Herman with Wendy Denysenko Chestnut Ridge Elementary, Churchville-Chili 2nd Grade
Mark McDaniel with Megan Seely Palmyra-Macedon High School Math	Erica Nourse with Mike Osborne Honeoye Central School Health, Grades K-5
Kim Zingaro with Taras Denysenko Monroe 2 BOCES Special Education, Grades K-3	Ronald Acosta with Cynthia Chiang Monroe High School Bilingual Math, Grades 7-9 ELIMINATED IN ROUND 1